


What marriage is about

by Chelidona (Hobbity)



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Unrelated Fíli and Kíli
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-30
Updated: 2019-04-30
Packaged: 2020-02-10 13:52:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18661714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hobbity/pseuds/Chelidona
Summary: Fill for GatheringFiKi SpringFRE 2019, prompt 25: ProposalFíli and Kíli are old friends. A wedding brings them closer.





	What marriage is about

Fíli and Kíli - their names inevitably came up together whenever anyone talked about them. Best friends since they toddled into each other's life when Fíli was five and "rescued" little two year old Kíli when he fell into the little water feature in the local playground. From that day forward, Fili had considered himself little Kíli’s protector much to the amusement of their mothers. Whenever his mother teased him too much about it, Fíli reminded her that his little acts of heroism brought her best friend into her life. Dis and Frigg were almost as inseparable as their sons these days.

These days, Fíli was 30 and Kíli was 27. And these days Fíli was Kíli’s plus one at the wedding of Tauriel. Tauriel, much to everyone’s surprise had ended up neither with Kíli nor Legolas, who had been fighting over her. Instead, she married Fingolfin, a fellow police officer.

While Kíli claimed he was over Tauriel, and so so happy for her, Fíli suspected that it was still hard for him to see Tauriel with another guy. On his first day of university, Kíli had been reprimanded by campus security for unruly behaviour. The officer had been Tauriel and Kíli had been starry eyed when he told Fíli of the experience, that would have angered everyone else. They had dated for a while and Kíli had been crushed when it was over. It was the only relationship that ever seemed to really matter to him.

So when Kíli had asked him to come with him to the wedding, Fíli had rearranged his own work schedule. Which had necessitated taking two days off. Why could people these days not simply marry in the place they lived? Why did they all have to fly to Ireland just so Tauriel’s red hair could be perfectly accentuated by the background of rolling green hills and a rough coast? He also had to scrap his plans to fly to Greece later in the year, as his initial budget for the year had not included three days in Ireland.

Still. It was all worth it when Kíli gave him a big hug at the airport and thanked him for the umpteenth time for coming along.

And of course, Ireland's landscape was stunning and Kíli's company always welcome. They had rented a car at Dublin airport and were taking turns driving down to county Kerry in the Southwest.

They had booked a double room in a small hotel near the venue. One of the first decisions they had taken when they planned the trip was that there was no way that they would pay for a room in the actual venue. Sacrificing his holidays to Greece was one thing. Sacrificing every special treat for the rest of the year just to stay in a posh hotel another.

Their hotel was a little bit removed from the beach, still expensive but clean and comfortable. And, in a sort of miracle, the room actually had twin beds. Fíli could not even remember how often they booked twin beds for their joint holidays and had ended up sharing a bed.

Nothing ever happened of course. Their life was hardly a romance novel. If it was, Fíli thought it would qualify for the slowest burn and worst case of pining.

For he could not remember a time when he did not love Kíli. He had told everyone when he was a child, that he would marry Kíli. He had stopped saying that as a teenager of course. But he had still dreamt of marrying Kíli. He never really got the concept of having a mad crush on somebody, or falling in love, or dating just for dating’s sake. He loved Kíli and he wanted Kíli in his life. He didn't need anyone else. Simple as that. Or not.

When they were kids, Kíli had also insisted that one day they would marry. Of course once Fíli was a teenager and felt much superior to Kíli, who was still a kid, he had told Kíli to stop being silly. And Kíli had never said it again. And soon after, Kíli had his first little girlfriend, followed by a string of others. Once he was older, there was the occasional boy in the procession of Kíli’s relationships. Kíli fell in love almost as quickly as he fell out of it. Tauriel had been his longest and most serious crush.

Fíli watched from the sidelines. It did not even hurt anymore.

Now that he was watching Kíli merrily making a mess in the hotel room while he was unpacking his suitcase, it occurred to Fíli that he was lying to himself. It did hurt so much to hear Kíli chatter about the wedding guests and all the attractive friends Tauriel had. He had no doubt that Kíli would spend most of the wedding flirting with a lucky lad or lady. And maybe not even return to their shared room.

“Why so gloomy?” Kíli’s smiling face was suddenly mere inches from his. “We’re in a beautiful village! At a beautiful coast! And we are going to be fed wonderful food tomorrow!”

“Tomorrow.” Fíli forced a smile. “I am hungry now. It was a long journey!”

“Well - that can be remedied.” Kíli took a step backwards and laughed. “Come on, let’s go for a walk, I bet there are dozen delicious restaurants around here.”

As usual, Kíli was too optimistic, but they found a nice little place near the seaside. And once their tummies were filled to their satisfaction, they took a little stroll at the seaside, enjoying the salty air and the sound of the crashing waves.

The next morning, they had to be ready at 10 o’clock. A shared taxi with Legolas and his date Gimli, a distant cousin of Fíli’s, took them to the church which was even more remote than the hotel. Having long been rivals for Tauriel’s love, Legolas and Kíli had never really gotten on. So it was up to Fíli and Gimli to keep everyone’s spirit up and luckily, they eventually established that both Kíli and Legolas were avid archers.

The service itself was as always too long. And Catholic rituals continued to confuse Fíli. Still, he had always liked Tauriel and it was nice to see her so happy. Legolas’ father Thranduil was the one giving her away. Afterwards, when everyone was already very hungry indeed, there were about a million pictures to be taken outside the Church.

Only Kíli’s silly comments kept Fíli’s spirits up. Especially when the photographer told everyone to jump for a fun picture. If the photographer had seen Thranduil’s glare, he might have dropped dead and the ordeal would have ended. As it was, the photographer escaped that fate and everyone, including Thranduil, jumped up.

At two, they were finally at the hotel. Luckily, the buffet was already set. Apparently, Fíli learned, the plan was to have a light meal now, and then a five course dinner starting at eight. Tauriel had put Kíli and him at a table with Legolas and Gimli, as well as Arwen, one of Tauriel’s friends, and her young boyfriend Aragorn.

“So what do you think marriage is all about?” Aragorn asked, after they all started eating.

“What?” Gimli stared at him. “What is marriage supposed to be all about.”

“That’s what I mean,” Aragorn insisted. “Why do we need to make love official?”

“Well.” Legolas shrugged and looked at Gimli sideways. “It is a romantic gesture.”

Gimli snorted. “All the romance is modern fluff. Flowery speeches and all that. That’s not what marriage is.”

“So what is it then?” Legolas did not seem to be too happy with his date.

“It’s about practicalities.” Gimli shrugged. “I look at my parents. Are they all soppy, staring into each other's eyes and writing sonnets? Do they put each other on pedestals and pretend the other is perfect? Of course not, that nonsense never lasts. They have a strong bond, they share their life and the marriage certificate means that they are legally each other’s closest relative. That’s what it is. Sharing your life fully with someone and having that legally recognized.”

Aragorn smiled. “That sounds actually more romantic.”

Gimli scoffed and the conversation turned into a more general criticism of the wedding industry. Perhaps not the most appropriate topic during a wedding.

Kíli did not flirt later, when they were mingling with the other wedding guests before dinner. Nor after dinner, when everyone was dancing. He accepted several invitations to dance, as did Fíli but they always ended up standing next to each other or even dancing with each other again.

At two o’clock in the morning, when the bridal couple was still going strong on the dance floor, Kíli suggested that they’d walk back to their hotel.

Once they were outside, and the cool air had done its job to clear Fíli’s head from the fog caused by slightly too much alcohol and way too many people, he asked: “Are you all right?”

“Sure. I’m great. Grand even.”

“Why’re we going back already then? You usually close every place down.”

Kíli stopped, looking at the moon - it was an unusually clear night for the west coast of Ireland. “I’m not even sure. I just wasn’t in the mood for much partying.”

“I see.”

They both sat down on the uncomfortable stone wall. The moon cast just enough light for them to make out the sea. There was a small stripe of land between the wall at the side of the road and the cliff. After a moment of silence, Fíli asked: “Are you upset because Tauriel married?”

“What? No!” Kíli’s ponytail brushed against Fíli’s cheek as Kíli shook his head vigorously. “I’m happy for her, I really am.”

“But?”

“Gimli got me thinking.”

“Gimli?”

“Yeah. About marriage and stuff. And love. And the way I tend to fall in love so rapidly and then it goes poof.”

“Yeah. You’re a romantic.”

“Maybe I’m just stupid. I mean, Gimli is right, isn’t he? That’s not true love. Meeting a person that fascinates you is not real love. I always knew that. Real love is sharing your life with someone. I mean not just physically. Emotionally as well. Having somebody who's always there for you and someone you’re always there for. Without even thinking. Having somebody you can depend on 200% and somebody who believes in you even when you don’t. And somebody you believe in and do everything for because it seems the most natural thing to do. And somebody who shares your ideals and your outlook on life. Somebody who will never bore you or be bored by you. Somebody you can spend hours with, talking or being quiet, but it never becomes awkward and somebody you can see every day without being sick of them. Somebody you want to see every day even.”

Fíli chuckled. “You are a hopeless romantic. I doubt Gimli had quite as long a list in mind. It’s almost impossible to find somebody like that.”

“No, it’s not.” Kíli turned to Fíli and Fíli instinctively turned his face towards Kíli. They looked into each other’s eyes, dimly lit in the moonlight. “We already got all that, haven’t we, Fíli? Even if we don’t live together, we see each other almost every day, and if I don’t see you, I call you. You’ve always been there for me, ever since I was small. You’ve never let me down in 25 years. Apart from that one time.”

Fíli felt his heart sink so fast he almost fell off the wall. “When?”

Kíli forced a chuckle. “When you told me we’d never marry, and I was just a silly child.”

“I was a stupid teenager.” Fíli flushed, his skin hot in the cool air.

“So the idea of us marrying is not silly?”

“What?” Maybe the air had not sobered him quite as much as he had supposed. Kíli sounded very serious, more serious than he should.

“Would you marry me Fíli? There’s no one else I’d ever really share my life with.”

“What?”

Kíli hunches his shoulders. “You can say no, you know. I just … It seemed like a good moment to put it out there. I know I seem like the most inconstant person on the planet, because I dated like a million people, but really, I only ever loved you I think. I just never really realised it, not until tonight, because I guess I fell in love when I was like two years old and it’s not something I really remember. So I never noticed I love you like that, I always just loved you like Fíli, but listening to Gimli it turns out that loving someone like Fíli is the kind of true love you should marry. I’m not going to pretend that this made sense and can you please say something and stop me from rambling, because I can’t stop right now.”

Fíli had to laugh a little, but then he nodded. “Of course I’ll marry you. I only ever loved you. That’s why I only ever dated that one time. To try it out.”

Kíli relaxed and looked at Fíli. Fíli needed no light to know exactly that Kíli was wearing the most beautiful smile right now. And then Kíli laughed. “I feel we should kiss right now, but you know, it feels more awkward than with a stranger.”

“I know.” Fíli hopped off the wall and offered his hand to Kíli. “Let’s get back to the hotel. Good thing we got twin beds.”

Kíli only hesitated a moment before he took Fíli’s hand.

“Good thing?”

“Because if you think a kiss is awkward … figuring out everything else will be even worse.”

“True.” Kíli jostled him. “On the other hand, you’re ridiculously attractive, I always thought so ever since I knew what attractive is.”

“Yeah. But. Babysteps, all right?”

“Holding hands is a great step.”

Holding hands was, in fact, the best thing that ever happened in Fíli’s life. Until, during the short walk to their hotel, the reality of what had happened filtered into Fíli’s brain and he thought he’d explode from happiness.

He was too happy to even feel much awkwardness as they got ready to sleep in their separate beds.

The next morning, though, he felt a bit awkward when he woke up. He sat up tentatively. As soon as he had swung his legs over the edge of the bed, Kíli sat up too. His large, hazel eyes reflected all the uncertainty Fíli felt.

“So.” Kíli dragged his hand through his hair, undoing the ponytail he had slept with. “Now that you’re completely sober - are we still going to get married?”

“Do you still want to marry me?”

Kíli nodded. Then, with an impish smile he jumped out of bed, stood next to Fíli who looked up at him in confusion and took Fíli’s hand.

“Fíli Durin, will you do me the great honour of becoming my lawfully wedded husband?”

Fíli couldn’t help the happy chuckle. “I do. I absolutely do.”

Kíli kissed him and there was nothing awkward about it at all.

**Author's Note:**

> Not my best work, the idea hit me a bit late and I had to rush to sort of make the deadline for the SpringFRE! I hope you still enjoyed it :)


End file.
